Microsoft denies Apple had influence on Windows 7 design
After a Microsoft official was quoted as saying that the "look and feel" of Windows 7 was inspired by Mac OS X, Apple's rival to the north has officially retracted the statement.
On the official Windows Blog, Brandon LeBlanc said that the widely circulated quote was "inaccurate." He flatly stated that the style of Windows 7 was not inspired by Mac OS X.
"Unfortunately this came from a Microsoft employee who was not involved in any aspect of designing Windows 7," LeBlanc said. "I hate to say this about one of our own, but his comments were inaccurate and uninformed."
The retraction came in response to an interview that Simon Aldous, partner group manager with Microsoft, gave to PCR, in which he said the graphical style of Windows 7 was inspired by Apple's Mac OS X.
"One of the things that people say an awful lot about the Apple Mac is that the OS is fantastic, that it's very graphical and easy to use," Aldous said. "What we?ve tried to do with Windows 7 -- whether it's traditional format or in a touch format -- is create a Mac look and feel in terms of graphics."
Despite Microsoft's official retraction of the comments, many, prior to Aldous' statement, had noted similarities between Microsoft's latest operating system and Mac OS X. In particular, the Windows 7 taskbar and the Mac OS X dock act very much alike, by combining program icons for both launching an accessing open windows.
The similarities between the two were acknowledged by The Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg in his review of Windows 7.
On the official Windows Blog, Brandon LeBlanc said that the widely circulated quote was "inaccurate." He flatly stated that the style of Windows 7 was not inspired by Mac OS X.
"Unfortunately this came from a Microsoft employee who was not involved in any aspect of designing Windows 7," LeBlanc said. "I hate to say this about one of our own, but his comments were inaccurate and uninformed."
The retraction came in response to an interview that Simon Aldous, partner group manager with Microsoft, gave to PCR, in which he said the graphical style of Windows 7 was inspired by Apple's Mac OS X.
"One of the things that people say an awful lot about the Apple Mac is that the OS is fantastic, that it's very graphical and easy to use," Aldous said. "What we?ve tried to do with Windows 7 -- whether it's traditional format or in a touch format -- is create a Mac look and feel in terms of graphics."
Despite Microsoft's official retraction of the comments, many, prior to Aldous' statement, had noted similarities between Microsoft's latest operating system and Mac OS X. In particular, the Windows 7 taskbar and the Mac OS X dock act very much alike, by combining program icons for both launching an accessing open windows.
The similarities between the two were acknowledged by The Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg in his review of Windows 7.
Comments
MS knows how to keep Windows 7 alive in the news a month later. Pretty smart I think- this is obviously all planned PR.
All that anger, all that rage on here yesterday for what? NADA.
Just as I said yesterday , OSX has no touch features yet. So who's copying who? When does the Touch come out with SL Touch?
In fairness though I have used many operating systems for many years and I don't think any of them are as good or as bad as the some folks would have you believe - and overall each has improved over the years - my personal preference in Mac OS for overall ease of use, for it just works (except when it doesn't), and for the most part a lack of the pain and frustration of getting things to work in the first place and to keep them running well over time, Mac OS is far superior, especially for those who do not have an IT support staff.
Microsoft can deny all they want - for years they have been copying and imitating the Mac OS. To help you believe which statement is right, just look at both OS's and the proof is there that Windooz is imitating MAC.
Copying ? I thought they stole it?
Just as I said yesterday , OSX has no touch features yet. So who's copying who? When does the Touch come out with SL Touch?
OS X has no touch features? What do you think the iPhone is running: OS X Lite! Why would I want a laptop or desktop with a touch screen anyway? I hate that. Anyone attempting to touch my screen gets slapped for leaving smudgy fingerprint marks behind. It's not as quick and easy to clean as an iPhone.
"I hate to say this about one of our own, but his comments were inaccurate and uninformed."
And we can all be assured that was the one and only time it has ever happened.
OOOhh- a retraction.
MS knows how to keep Windows 7 alive in the news a month later. Pretty smart I think- this is obviously all planned PR.
All that anger, all that rage on here yesterday for what? NADA.
Just as I said yesterday , OSX has no touch features yet. So who's copying who? When does the Touch come out with SL Touch?
You know with This talk of copy cop copy.
Want to
see where a lot of leopard features came from?
And I do mean a lot.
This video is 7 years or older. After the 3rd slide it goes live to an audience.
Check out this video on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXv8V...=youtube_gdata
So who's copying who? This should quiet a lot of people from both sides.
Just as I said yesterday , OSX has no touch features yet. So who's copying who? When does the Touch come out with SL Touch?
Here is a right handed Windows 7 touch user:
Just as I said yesterday , OSX has no touch features yet. So who's copying who? When does the Touch come out with SL Touch?
Whose to say Apple doesn't have a SL Touch? Didn't Apple have Intel "capable" software in PPC equipped Mac OS for a year before Intel was rolled out?
After a Microsoft official was quoted as saying that the "look and feel" of Windows 7 was inspired by Mac OS X, Apple's rival to the north has officially retracted the statement.
Copy, copy, copy, deny, deny, deny.
"I hate to say this about one of our own, but his comments were inaccurate and uninformed."
YES!
What say we throw him into the pit of despair? That'll teach em!
-360
Just as I said yesterday , OSX has no touch features yet. So who's copying who? When does the Touch come out with SL Touch?
No touch features eh? That's funny, I just used four fingers to swipe my way through open apps, selected firefox, used three fingers to swipe my way over to this tab, then used two fingers to scroll down to your post on my macbook pro.
I regularly zoom through google maps, zoom in and out on images and documents, and access tons of other features on my mac with multi touch controls. Granted, they aren't on the screen, but I think anyone in their right mind understands that touching the screen of a laptop or desktop is just ridiculous and unnecessary.
The iPhone runs a fully multi-touch environment adapted directly from OSX.
Get your facts straight, PC fanboy
"I hate to say this about one of our own, but his comments were inaccurate and uninformed."
Just when I think someone at MS is being truly honest...
No touch features eh? That's funny, I just used four fingers to swipe my way through open apps, selected firefox, used three fingers to swipe my way over to this tab, then used two fingers to scroll down to your post on my macbook pro.
I regularly zoom through google maps, zoom in and out on images and documents, and access tons of other features on my mac with multi touch controls. Granted, they aren't on the screen, but I think anyone in their right mind understands that touching the screen of a laptop or desktop is just ridiculous and unnecessary.
The iPhone runs a fully multi-touch environment adapted directly from OSX.
Get your facts straight, PC fanboy
Microsoft has a touch feature built into their desktop OS that works with the current HP TouchSmart desktops. I assume he was talking about this feature an the fact Apple doesn't have it at this point. However if the Tablet rumors are true that should change fairly soon.